Man jailed for eight years for stabbing Thomas O'Rourke to death in Wishaw

7 January 2025, 10:05 | Updated: 7 January 2025, 12:47

A man who stabbed another in the heart during a street fight has been jailed for eight years.

Francis McConnachie, 36, denied murdering Thomas O'Rourke, 21, and instead claimed he was acting in self-defence during the fight in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, on 24 February 2023.

McConnachie repeatedly punched Mr O'Rourke on the head and body, stabbed him four times with a knife to his chest, ribs, heart and back, and inflicted blunt force trauma to his victim's head.

A court heard Mr O'Rourke died from the blade wound which penetrated his heart and the sac around it.

Jurors were told of how McConnachie had earlier consumed alcohol and valium on the night of the incident.

Following a confrontation outside, Mr O'Rourke retrieved a knife from his parents' home and returned making threats to kill McConnachie.

The fight ended with Mr O'Rourke dead.

In November, McConnachie was convicted of the reduced charge of culpable homicide while acting under provocation.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison at the High Court in Glasgow on Monday.

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Lord Arthurson said McConnachie had "inflicted significant and fatal instrumental violence" upon Mr O'Rourke, but the judge accepted the killer had shown "remorse and empathy" for the attack.

Citing impact statements prepared by Mr O'Rourke's loved ones, Lord Arthurson stated: "You should be under no illusions as to the scale of the dreadful loss sustained by Mr O'Rourke's family in respect of their bereavement, occasioned as that was by your fatal attack upon him."

(c) Sky News 2025: Man jailed for eight years for stabbing Thomas O'Rourke to death in Wishaw